BEIJING: Thirty-two people , mostly Iranians, were missing Sunday after anoil tanker collided with a cargo ship off the coast of east China, thetransport ministry said.

The tanker, carrying 136,000 tonnes of oil condensate, caught firefollowing the collision link> Saturdaynight and its crew of 30 link>Iranianslink> and two Bangladeshis were missing, theministry said in a statement.

The other vessel had been damaged but “without jeopardising the safety ofthe ship” and all its 21 Chinese crew had been rescued, it added.

The tanker was still ablaze Sunday, with images broadcast by statetelevision channel CCTV showing the ship in the grip of an intense fire,enveloped in clouds of black smoke.

The Panamanian-flagged 274-metre (899-foot) tanker “Sanchi” was operated byIran’s Glory Shipping and was heading to South Korea with its cargo, theministry said.

The accident occurred in waters about 160 nautical miles east of Shanghai.

The second vessel involved was a Hong Kong-flagged cargo ship carrying64,000 tonnes of grain.

Chinese maritime authorities have dispatched eight ships for the search andrescue operation and South Korea has sent a plane and coastguard ship tohelp, the official Xinhua news agency said.